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Brand new with active hive given to me, how to move?

I am brand spanking new to bee keeping. I bought two used hives and supers and clothing and a smoker for next to nothing from a guy who is aging out. He has another hive with 5 supers staked on them full of bees that he is going to give me. I just have to move them. They swarmed from another hive that died. They swarmed into this hive that was in storage and was not being used. They did it by getting into one of the supers that was stacked up and had a small crack in it. They have been there since the spring. How do I move them and how far do i have to move them. I plan to keep my bees is about 1/2 mile away from him. I have heard if you don’t move them far enough they will just go back to where the old hive was. Is ½ mile far enough and how do I move them since they are in a stack of old hives and supers with no foundation n the frames? Should I be feeding them or should they be fine since they have been there since the spring?

Re: Brand new with active hive given to me, how to move?

Looks like a giant cut out situation to me if they have been in the frameless hives since last spring!! I would probably get the boxes apart carefully and tie the combs into frames you have and then put those frames into your hive bodies. But the real problem is time. If you could wait until your spring time hits and perform the extraction, it would be much better. If you accidentally killed the queen during removal, you might be hardpressed to find another queen and I don't think drones are available right now, but then again im not familiar with the climate in NC.

As far as moving them, go to Michael Bushes website and read all you can, a lot of info there for a new beekeeper like yourself!!

Re: Brand new with active hive given to me, how to move?

1) Wait until the bees are in for the evening and put a screen over the entrance so that air can go in and out, but not bees.Tpae or screen over all holes or other ways for the bees to get in.
If the hive has a hole in the lid for a jar feeder that isn't screened, tape over it.

2) if they haven't got a hole in the lid for a jar feeder or a couple combs of honey or nectar each, put a frame feeder in them.

3) Wrap ratchet strap around it bottom to top - from the bottom board to the cover - and strap it tight so the boxes can't shift.

4)Move bees to new location

5)Set in place; If top has a jar feeder hole wait na hour or three, then put a jar of 1:1 syrup on each one. (If the feed hole is screened, you don't have to wait...that's just to let the bees settle down after moving.)

6)Leave the bees screened in until late evening of the third day.

7) Lean a board, branch, or other object on the hive front so the bees will have to go through or around it to leave.

The 3 day wait disorients most of the bees from their old location.

Putting an obstacle in front of the entrance triggers orienting for most of the others when they leave the first time.

Some bees will still return ot the old location; put an empty box where one of the hives was and they will go in at night.
Then you can close them up, shake them into a box at the new location and put something in front of it to trigger orientation as above.

There will still be a few bees that go to the old location, but not many.
Within a few days, they'll stop doing so.

Re: Brand new with active hive given to me, how to move?

Move them first as Beregondo said.

But there is no need to feed.

With you being a newbee, if you can, I would put a new box on top with frames (frames of empty drawn comb if you have them). After a few weeks, see if the queen has moved up into that new box. If she has, move the old boxes a few feet away and set up a new hive in the place of the old one. The foragers will return to the old location (where the new hive now is).

Then you can take the old one apart with fewer bees. Put brood comb into frames and crush and strain what honey you can salvage.

Re: Brand new with active hive given to me, how to move?

OK i have had a guy who says he is a journeyman take a look at the swarm. They are only in the super they entered and the one above it, they did not go down. So I am to take the top two with covers they are in and put them on a flat bottom board without an entrance. Move them and when i get them to the temporary location i will put a hive body with frames and foundation and crack the super like they got it. Then let them move up into the hive body. As the gueen moves up I’ll put an extruder under the hive so she won't move back down, then as the brood below hatches and the frames get empty I’ll move them from under until I have them all back in the hive body. Does that sound like a good plan. When putting in hives and suppers with new foundation, do I need to spray the foundation with sugar water?